266 comments:

I am more curious about the rookies on both teams than Lin lol. I want to watch more of Lamb and see how he can do in the same backcourt with Lin. Also want to check out the Spurs' new back up PG.

Also, it looks like a lot of rookies in this class are doing quite well. The Pistons' Drummond has really impressed. He looks like a young Amare to me. Wish the Rockets would have traded up for him instead of drafting Royce White, Jones and DMo. The Rockets would have a roster looking like the old Suns team with Drummond, Lin and Lamb being the new Amare, Nash and Joe Johnson then lol.

Jeremy should really read Michael Terry's posts under this site's headline 'Doc on JLin' dated August 27, 2012, on why he should change his shooting technique to model after Nash at: http://www.jeremylin.net/2012/08/doc-on-jlin.html

On how Jeremy can GREATLY IMPROVE his shooting percentages, Michael Terry was kind enough to post the very knowledgeable 3-part post on WHYS and HOWS of a different shooting technique than that which Lin uses. Michael also posted 3 great YouTube training videos by Nash on:

Another great YouTube training video by Nash was on Passing, which was posted by another member, wilc:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhkx5ovweQg

I think it will serve Jeremy very well for his basketball career, if he reads the above mentioned post by Michael Terry and view the above 4 short YouTube videos by Nash (all very short, except for the 20-minutes self-practice), AND THEN SEE if he should hire the best NBA-Level private coaches.

He should also think about changing personal conditioning trainers to the ones that are among the best in the business.

It's not necessarily the best thing for Jeremy to hire his friends or coaches who have helped with his career in high school and college. He can still help them in other ways.

Haha. Those Rockets fans now are acting like exactly the Knicks fans of last year talking about how Baron Davis and Bibby were better than Lin and should start over him. And then both are now out of the nba. ;-)

OMG, JLin missing wide open shot at the end -- that's Machado's fault also. :) One good thing about Machado is that he knows his shooting sucks, so he doesn't even take shots, so he has no chance to miss and get blamed.

Even Lin and the Rockets turn it around in the 2nd half. The same people complaining now will then say this is preseason only and Duncan and company are not playing anymore. The Rockets have to dominate in every quarter and every game to satisfy you guys!!

Jeremy Lin is lacking confidence in his perimeter shots. You see him hesitant and people just leave him open. I thought he's been practicing with doc over the summer on his run and jump shots.Hope this is just due to injury, want Lin to prove himself since people are doubting him right now.

The Spurs have excellent 3-point shooters anyone who is open outside, even if they only have 2 feet of space, will hit it almost automatically. The Rockets have almost no reliable shooters ... that's pretty much the difference of the game.

yeah even the announcer was saying that was a foul and then you see right on the other side its called a foul. But he should've made that layup and the other one, seemed a bit slower and less explosive due may be hurt. Also all his shots are not going in.

I doubt he's hurt, or the coach would not want him to play. I think McHale wants to see how JLin performs against Spurs type of team. I think JLin needs to play through this kind of bad shooting periods by just taking open shots. It's preseason for god's sake -- just jack up the shots if you are open.

So I'll simply remind people that these are the SPURS with TIM DUNCAN (one of the greatest Hall of Famers of all time). It's almost impossible to beat Duncan's Spurs unless a team is stacked with super talent like OKC or Miami.

I've been saying for months that Tim Duncan is my favorite player (NOT Jeremy Lin), that he's still one of the top 5 players in basketball, that Tony Parker and Ginobili live off what Duncan does for them. My #1 favorite player is beating my #2 favorite player, AS IT SHOULD BE!

On the other hand, I wouldn't say that Jeremy Lin is the reason why Tim Duncan is leading the Spurs to victory. Tim Duncan is a first ballot Hall of Famer because he makes his teams virtually impossible to beat. Plus, the Spurs have essentially the same team that steamrolled the NBA until they ran into the supertalented OKC Thunder. The Spurs are SUPPOSED to destroy the Rockets!

One shouldn't blame Jeremy Lin for losing to the contender Spurs. It's IRRESPONSIBLE.

I agree that it would be irresponsible to blame JLin for the Rockets being shut down. The Spurs just played great team D as a championship caliber team. JLin actually kept Rockets in the game whenever he was on the floor, getting the Rockets within a couple of baskets, showing that never give up trait you would expect in a leader.

Did JLin get frustrated? Sure. Did his frustration translate to his decision making? Probably so. But that's how young players respond and as they get more experienced being frustrated time and time again by great defenses, they will eventually figure out how to counter attack effectively.

I hadn't really thought about what he is frustrated about. My take is that he is frustrated about the team's poor performance. Then he is frustrated about himself and the teammates because he takes responsibility and at the same time holds his teammates accountable.

Jeremy looks frustrated, this is a bad sign. Everytime this happens he becomes ineffective. Like eb5attorney said he needs to set the tone for the team, they are all playing wildly. Its like he's stuck in some mental rut since 1st quarter.

McHale is right about what he said after the 2nd win, that Rockets is still sloppy and needs work. Spurs is burning them and they're getting by through athleticism alone. I wonder what McHale is gunna say to them during the break...

Hes not just setting the tone by making calls. Look closely and you see how hes even waving both his arms wildly to give directions. When you direct so obviously that everybody can see its a sign that the guys dont listen (or the guy - I have someone in mind).

They are really denying the ball to JLin. Even when his teammates need to pass back to the JLin to reset, the Rockets can't do it 'cause the Spurs PG is shadowing JLin. JLin gotta be physical and just run through these Spurs PGs to get to the ball.

Hes frustrated obviously. Hes not in the zone... its bad but even guys like Kobe or Melo miss 8-9 shots in a row... Also - they are shadowing him. He runs way too much to be shooting well. Thats why the best shooters usually camp in the corner a lot. They have to catch breath and bring the pulse down to have high shooting percentage.

For now, since it is the pre season , Lin must try to be effective without attacking the basket too often like trying to pass more which he did in the last 2 games so as to avoid injury. He needs to peak at the right time which is when the season starts. I think that is when you would see him in attacking mode (He needs to make sure he stays healthy for a full season )

As for confidence... I hope not. Lin is just trying to find his identity on the team .

As of now, I think the whole team seems tired. They lack energy ,awareness, defence and confidence.

JLin just keeps on penetrating. He may not be hitting shots, but he is staying aggressive.

The Rockets as well, keeps on coming back at the Spurs. I like the spirit in the second half, they didn't give up (probably McHale's good infulence).

JLin is also giving up the ball to Asik really early once he reaches the 3 point line and then tries to get out of the way. I have not seen this in the previous two pre-season games. This must be something new the coach is trying. This may explain why the Rockets offence look so uncoordinated in the first half.

Not a good day for Jeremy (though he played solid defense for most of the game), but he got no help from his equally bumbling teammates fumbling passes and missing layups.

I'm not worried about his off-day against a great veteran team like the Spurs. I'm just worried about that left knee affecting his shooting and explosiveness. Duncan is NOT the guy you want falling on top of your leg.

I just hope Jeremy assures everyone post-game that he's fine and just muscle-sore.

I hope so. The thing about a meniscus tear like Jeremy's is that it isn't debilitating per se. It just grows a little worse and a little more painful with use. He played on it for weeks last season before he finally got surgery.

Rockets as a team shooting 38.5% after 3 qs. JLin only 1 for 10, ouch! CP is also only 2 for 9. That's what a good D will do to a young team!

JLin seemed frustrated and it all started with the Timmy D help in the 1st quarter.

JLin kept on coming back and attacking. The team played off of JLin's persistence and cut into the lead whenever JLin was on the floor. He also kept on playing really good D, also influencing his teammates.

Jeremy Lin's knee iced both top and bottom. I think he's done for the game just like what the commentator said. I think his knee is fine, like they said it's going to take 1year for it to really feel like it's 100%

If it takes a full year to really be 100%, then I really hope that the rest of his team will actually play better that how they are playing now. If Lin is seen as the best guy on that team, opposing teams are going to try and double team him and there is a likely chance he might get injured again.

Lin is the ONLY player in nba history I have ever seen NOT allowed to have a single bad game.

BTW, if you want to see a prime example of the 2nd type players I mentioned, look no further than Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo, who are all supposed to be so much better than Lin, YET had less good games and more bad games in BOTH last season and this preseason!

Lin has said it clearly. He play for the GOD. Let the game play. Haters will hate. Fan will be fan. It is really not easy to change both side because there are a lot of emotion involved. Why don't we let the game play and continue supporting Lin. Life is short for the negative comments but is long enough for one to achieve something.

When Albert Eisenstein started his earlier career, he was discouraged to investigate gravity. At that time, Newtown's universal gravitation theory had been regarded the "solution" for almost two centuries although Newton himself did not believe his theory is a valid description of the gravitational force.

Had Eisenstein listened to this advice, there will no general relativity. Lesson here is that "Listen to the critics and then make a good judgement to do what you want and be capable to do."

The fans don't care about the difference between Lin's and Machado's "environment". Lin is entering his 3rd season and Machado is a rookie. Lin is supposed to perform better, yet he's been mediocre so far this preseason.

The fans don't care about the difference between Lin's and Machado's "environment". Lin is entering his 3rd season and Machado is a rookie. Lin is supposed to perform better, yet he's been mediocre so far this preseason.

Let's not kid ourselves by talking about "intangible" contributions to the game. Those are worse than scrub numbers.

Jlin is a man of pride so I'm just glad it's happening in preseason so he can work on whatever he needs to work on.

First thing he needs to do is FIRE HIS SHOOTING COACH. Jlin is a loyal guy which is admirable but c'mon, you're in the NBA now and you need to get an NBA shooting coach not a Girls High School team shooting coach.

I agree with you here. I would grade his first preseason game B, then 2nd B+ but this one D- or F. Machado has 8 or 9 assists and Lin has one. I noticed from the first preseason game his shooting is suspect. If his shots are not falling in, JLin tends to get wild.

I agree he had a bad game. But he did his job as a PG as far as running the offense which resulted in points or oppurtunities for his teammates to score.

Like I said previously, trying to change the way you shoot takes time. It's different just shooting practice and scrimmage game vs. the real game. I'm sure right now it feels more mechanical for Lin than natural. The regular season games he play his new shooting stroke will feel more natural and will start to fall in the basket.

All the starters have negative plus minuses in this game. JLin actually has the highest out of all five starters (-5), even higher than Omer Asik (-10) who has a double double 13 pts 11 reb 5 ass 2 stl 1 blk.

I think he got hurt from Duncan landing on him, don't think he'll be playing tomorrow with that ice pack on his leg. I think this is a good game for the Rockets unlike the last 2, this one took their morale down and showed what the best of the best is like.

Sorry, with Lin in, Houston was competitive. As soon as Machado came in, he got a lot of assists while Houston's deficit ballooned to 15. If you can't see the difference in defense while Lin's on the court, I don't know what to tell you.

The goal of basketball is to have more points than the other team, not maximize your point guard's assists. If you'll notice, Lin is running McHale's offense, which means he doesn't have as much opportunity to get direct assists. I don't know what Machado is doing exactly, but he's running a different offense.

Lin played good defense, got into the lane at will, and managed the offense. Lin's shooting, however, was terrible. I can only assume it will improve, but I also can't read the future.

Virginia, if you take that approach, I am also fine with it, as long as you take the same approach when Rockets are losing despite JLin having good stats. I don't rely too much on stats either, but I try to call them as I see it.

Lin's knee is fine. People should stop fretting so much. He's worn that same ice pack after his last two games too.

Wearing the ice is a mistake and unscientific, so he should stop doing it, however. Inflammation accompanies healing. Retarding inflammation is really dumb and I'm sad to see someone so smart, who has access to smart people (medical doctors) who it is documented have told him directly that icing hurts rather than helps recovery. But, anyway, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any acute injury at this point, he thinks the ice is a prophylactic. This recent worry about Lin's knee is because he said he wasn't recovered all the way yet, but he was talking about strength and speed, not acute injury.

It looks to me like Lin is corkscrewing his shot, which somebody pointed out here months ago. That happens when he tries to shoot the ball from the middle of his forehead the way a girl would. But Lin's manly elbow doesn't flare out sideways the way a girl's elbow does!

Lin needs to turn his body to the right a bit more, shoot the ball from the right side of his head, and let his shooting arm extend straight. That's how Lin used to do it before he got Doc Scheppler's coaching, just as Lin's dad taught him. During Linsanity, Lin used that shot and it worked. John Stockton shot over 50% from the field with the same form Lin used to have.

When his shots are not falling in, he usually doesnt go wild - he goes to the basket. As JLin fan you should know that. Just remember his breakout game against nets (Knicks/Nets February 4th). He missed his outside shots so he went back to attacking the paint and he saved the game by doing so. Usually - he stays calm.

Think of people like Melo or Kobe who miss 7-8 shots in a row on a regular basis. They keep shooting and they ofte keep missing. Sometimes they get their shooting back when they are in the zone (Kobe sometimes misses his 8 first shots just to makes the following 10 or so - see Knicks/Lakers game).

But - if you can switch your game - do it. Usually its the better choice - especially when youre a hard running PG like JLin. It doesnt look heroic to give up your shot but its good PG decission. Some nights - youre off. Gotta accept that.

Lin was pretty frustrated with the teams bad runs. Usually when his team is being dominated by the opponents - he runs harder - being the work horse that he is (thats why people always praise him for staying agressive and working hard to the last minute). Sometimes it leads to a turnaround.

That again is also why people sometimes (when things dont work out) say hes out of control (team running too bad - Lin running into one way streets - shooting bad). But - that is quite a myopic view on things. Why? Cause you cant run harder and shoot better at the same time. My coach used to say that shooters are snipers. Gotta keep pulse and breathing low which is why the best 3pt shooters often camp in the corners.

Now - some people here have stated that JLin should control his team better. Well - as JLin fan you shouldnt say anything like that. Why? Cause you cant tell whether he is trying to. I can imagine that he is making calls and trying to direct players (we cannot hear that). But - you can see how he was trying to direct his team...

There were several occasions when he was waving his arms wildy to give directions (in a very unusual manner). Now - you usually dont do that unless you as PG are hoarse :) or think one or several of your teammates are totaly deaf or dumb (usually you dont want others to know the calls).

They have a problem with communication or the calls or the routines (or cooperation or stolidity). You can see it by the way Lin left the court at halftime - very frustrated. He usually doesnt do that.

@ willydilly "Now - you usually dont do that unless you as PG are hoarse :) or think one or several of your teammates are totaly deaf or dumb (usually you dont want others to know the calls)."

Haha, I saw that, too. On one play Lamb had thrown an inlet pass to Asik from the side, when JLin had a better angle from the top of the 3 pt line. Asik eventually got fouled, but JLin was already frustrated with the ball movement at that point and strongly motioned to Lamb to swing the ball.

When JLin gets frustrated, he gets angry. He tries to keep it under control, but once in a while you see it boiling over e.g. Milwaukee game when he was shouting at his teammates for not boxing out after playing good one on one D on Jennings. The important thing is that JLin usually after the game and I suspect in the locker room will calm down. His response will usually be to work at the game harder, which is a good thing for a young player!

Personally, I feel a young team like the Rockets should get pounded on to improve. But I agree that for those fans who are antsy about this loss , shake it off - it's a long season ahead!

Yeah they definitely have a long way to go and lots of the improvement has to happen in the locker room and in post game analysis. At least they have some footage to study now :)

BTW - there was another situation where JLin could have yelled at his teammates :) Guys thought the play was over before the ref signaled it. Opponent ran in an scored (boooooom). Well - these things happen to young players. That is why people often talk about experience. These two points can make the difference between victory and defeat.

Also - being played like that takes your morale down -> difference between victory and defeat. People often talk about Linsanity without taking into consideration that JLin most of all taught is teammates to work hard. JLin played successfull not just because of his driving or shooting skills - he won games because he is one of the best 4th quarter finishers.

Young players often dont know how to handle bad situations (can tell by there body language) -> downward spirale in motion. That is one of JLins qualities -> running hard to the last second. Its not over until its over.

I remember how JLin shouted at Melo and Tyson at that game :) They both looked like they just been spanked :) Like many of us always claim... Lin is not the shy guy who cant speak up. He can go at peoples throats.

A lot of people here also mix things up way too much. Is the team not playing well because he is frustrated or is he frustrated because the team is not playing well? Is the game bad beacause hes running out of control or is he running too much because they are being dominated (what is not just his fault -> teamsport)? Is he too serious and is the game therefor bad or is he not having fun because the game is bad?

Its a PRESEASON game. Were talking about a team of youngsters. They ought to make mistakes now so they wont make them in the regular season.

JLin is slowly coming back. With strength, engergy, speed, chemnistry and good routines JLins shooting and Linsanity will come back.

BTW: Dont know about you guys but when I was young I gave up basketball because of my knee troubles. When youre in pain you can play through... but... youre constantly beeing distracted. That makes you play and SHOOT worse. Dont judge JLin now. Let him recover and judge his shooting then. If you want to judge now you gotta let him play while he is pumped up with vicodine or something like that :)

"Is the team not playing well because he is frustrated or is he frustrated because the team is not playing well?"

He is frustrated mainly because the team is playing poorly. His frustration in fact improves his team play because JLin tries harder to make things happen on both the offensive and defensive ends.

"Is the game bad beacause hes running out of control or is he running too much because they are being dominated (what is not just his fault -> teamsport)?"

He is running too much because they are being dominated. JLin tries even harder to make thing happen when they are being dominated. Some fans mistake this for playing wildly or running out of control, when in fact he is taking chances to make things happen rather than just lay back and let things run its (losing) course.

"Is he too serious and is the game therefor bad or is he not having fun because the game is bad?"

This is a tougher one. I think during Linsanity run he was probably being too serious. He mentioned that he loss the joy in life (surprisingly!) during Linsanity. I think know that he has had the summer to think things over, he plays for his own standards and no one else. He is no longer so easily affected by successes and failures. Or at least he is more aware that this is a trap he tends to fall into. He is did not play a poor game because he was too serious. He played a poor game because the opposing team was a championship calibre team. He may be serious or down or hard on himself because they lost, but he played poorly not because he put too much pressure on himself (at least he is learning not to and has improved quite a bit).

Cara, it's JLin fan site, but not a JLin blind fan site. Like I said, if administrator feels that I am stepping out of the line, he can ban me from this site. But in the meantime, I think you should shut your mouth. I have been extremely "kind" to JLin's game, as well as point out the potential problem (his shooting) from the beginning, but being his fan doesn't mean you should be blind. You ask JLin how he performed today, and he will say "Horrible". That's one reason I like JLin because he tells it like it is.

What's wrong with the Rockets beating so-so teams and losing to good teams?

The Rockets are one of the lowest seeded teams in the NBA, and they're one of the youngest. Other than Kevin Martin, no one on the roster has strung together an entire season of note. And now eb5attorney expects these young unproven Rockets to deal harsh defeat to the Spurs with their All Stars?

The Spurs haven't won all those championships with Parker-Ginobili-Duncan because guys like Lin decided to lay down and play dead! Besides, it's not as if Parker came out and had his way with Jeremy Lin.

This is the NBA where good teams can get utterly CLOWNED by championship level squads. Losing this game is not all on Jeremy Lin's shoulders alone.

Don't twist my words again Khuang. I never said there is anything wrong with losing to Spurs. You just like to twist someone's words. Show me anywhere I said it's a problem for Rockets to lose to Spurs. You can say I am tough on JLin but I have been consistent from the beginning.

Also, I never said Parker had his way with JLin. I never even said Westbrook had his way with JLin either because JLin played defense but RW's shots went in. I call it the way I see it, so don't try to twist people's words. All I know is JLin himself will admit that he had a "horrible" game.

You said "who cares" as far as losing to the Spurs go, as if we here are making a mistake by acknowledging that the Spurs are a wicked tough team that Jeremy Lin's Rockets likely couldn't beat even if he had the game of his life.

This is the NBA. Fans like me know that there are certain teams against which it's nearly impossible to win. The Spurs have been that kind of team for over the last decade.

I will say it differently: BE QUIET. I never said JLin's passing is horrible. I don't even think too much of his TOs. The only reason I bring up being banned is because Cara told me I shouldn't be on this site. Heck, Cara, go ahead and ban me, that's all I am saying.

Lin's shooting is a major problem. If he'd made a reasonable number of jumpers, this is a winnable game. I hope that as Lin starts to get more game minutes--as the preseason goes on--that he'll be able to connect his offseason shooting improvements to game situations.

He doesn't have to get too aggressive during preseason games, but yeah, I haven't seen him make one long open jumper (maybe one) during 3 preseason games. This is why I said i don't think he will be an effective scorer during this season.

Nephelauxetic, no way JLin will average 17 points per game. First, Rockets have players who can score more effectively than JLin. Second, JLin's jump shots are not consistent to give him confidence to drive. Third, teams are not going to allow JLin to drive and score like the last year.

Now I'm CONCERNED. Lin needs to hit jump shots the way Lin can hit them.

The Rockets should hire a shooting coach to fix Lin's girly jump shot. Fortunately they have a coach right there in Houston who has a long record of success in improving the games of NBA players: John Lucas.

It won't take much to fix Lin's jump shot. He just needs to shoot the ball naturally instead of twisting himself physically to fit Doc Scheppler's "picture" shot that works for girls but not grown men.

You may remember that I brought up this issue based on his shooting in Taiwan. The shooting form does not have to be picture perfect because the way I see it Kmart's shooting is not picture perfect. I actually think JLin should shoot somewhat in front of his head rather than far back. JLin was able to score big time against Lakers precisely because his jump shots were falling in, but I noticed that when his jump shots are not falling, he tends to get wild and take too much chance on passing and offense.

Kmart is a terrific shooter who doesn't have a picture perfect release. In fact, he kind of just pushes the ball into the rim while his body is all over the place. And there's not a darned thing wrong with that because the ball goes IN!

If Lin could solve his jump shooting problem, he'd become UNSTOPPABLE. Everything else about his game is All Star level!

Jumper does seem like it is off. He'll get more comfortable with his shot once he's confident with his knee. Sometimes you have to take one step backward to take two steps forward (as far as tinkering with his shot). Its great hes having these type of games now. Preseason is no indicator the for the regular season. My favorite player in baseball Albert Pujols was tearing it apart in spring training games and then he couldn't hit the baseball for nearly two months once the season started.

The Rockets won't wait that long if he's a bust. There's that kid, Machado, who's putting up numbers and they won't hesitate to hand him the keys if Lin isn't getting it done. Jeremy needs to wake the f**k up and get it together.

At worst, he'll be the 2nd coming of Ason (Jason) Kidd who did everything well but had an unreliable jump shot. Besides, Jeremy Lin is doing everything else extremely well.

Jeremy Lin historically starts out slow and then picks up steam. Nobody makes more adjustments to his game than Lin does. He WILL figure out the shooting thing (go watch dem John Stockton videos of his side shooting jump shot) and he WILL play great!

I didn't mean to imply Rockets will give JLin 3 years to show what he can do, but definitely JLin has more leeway than a player fighting for a spot. Of course, if he has this kind of game 10 games in a row, then I get what TVN is saying.

Lol machado putting up numbers...whatever he played like garbage against spurs 2nd unit that was not nearly as tough as their starters and finally puts some baskets in after single handily gave up 15pts for a 18pts deficit when lin and company caught up the previous deficit by machado, I wanted to scream when he lobbed that ball in an epic fail of a jumper right to spurs hands. If Douglas had been leading bench it would have been a win. Watch the game numbers ain't everything. Lin didn't do well but he kept parker at the same level and did kept the game rolling. Machado is garbage he is d leaguer at best.

I doubt they'd give Lin until his 3rd year to prove he's worth the money. They'll cut their losses, go after another PG either in house, the draft, or free agency, and bench him that 3rd year.

@Kenoshi,

You're letting your hate of Machado cloud your judgment.

Bottom line, he had 9 points and 11 assists in 24 minutes. Call it against the 2nd unit or whatever, but that's what people see, whether you like it or not. Take a look at ClutchFans.net if you want to see what I'm talking about.

I saw Scott Machado play, and he played exactly the way I expected him to.

Machado's decisionmaking is suspect. He's much more of a "shoot first" point guard than people think he is. Defensively he can't stop anyone. Even Jeremy Lin scoring 4 points a game is WAY MORE IMPACTFUL than Scott Machado doing his thing.

Condemning Lin to be a BUST at this point the way TVN does is getting way ahead of oneself. Sure Lin's shooting is flawed, but there's so much else he's doing that's absolutely SUPERB. What he's doing is no different from what Ason (Jason) Kidd was doing in his first few years, though I'm disappointed in that because Jeremy Lin has already shown that he can be a top NBA jump shooter!

I'd be disturbed about Lin's jump shooting if he had never demonstrated on an NBA court that he could hit shots, but Lin is not a guy like Kidd who's never been a shooter. Lin has easily demonstrated that he's a BIG TIME jumpshooter, albeit one that in my opinion has received too much ineffective coaching over the summer.

Lin is a terrific player even with a badly broken jump shot. Look out NBA if he reverts to the side throwing jump shot that got him into the NBA to begin with!

Its the first beat down of the (pre)-season for the Rockets, so its good to get that out of the way. Certainly there will be more games where the Rockets will be outclassed, but they've just got to learn from what they've done wrong and improve. The losing is all part of building up the team. The OKC Thunder loss quite a bit in 08-09 before turning it around in 09-10. Rockets should do better than the 08-09 Thunder, but its still true that young teams will just have to go through growth pains.

Even Clyde Drexler said that on the air. Drexler is a big time Jeremy Lin fan, and not in a homer way either. So it's to be expected that Jeremy Lin isn't 100%.

Besides, Jeremy Lin did not get overshadowed by Scott Machado. Jeremy Lin kept the Rockets in the game and dragged "the best PG in the NBA" down to his level. Scott Machado was Scott Machado, which means that a game held close by Lin turned into a ROUT when Machado subbed in for Lin.

What disturbs me is that Jeremy Lin is taking more brutal illegal hits than I've ever seen a player take in preseason. The refs need to clean up their act and start officiating him the way they officiate the other 9 players on the court. Just because Lin is Asian doesn't mean a foul committed against him is less of a foul committed against a nonAsian player!

He has had 6 months to recover and indeed he has healed completely over the summer.

When JLin (and most fans here) talk about the knee issue, they not talking about healing from the knee surgery. They are talking about conditioning of the knee, such as training it up again to the same explosiveness and strength as before the injury.

I saw that the refs were letting JLin whacked coming off picks and on one play while going on a fast break layup was run into by one of the second team Spurs big guys and no foul called! I don't know what is happening. Even the commentators mentioned that the refs are 'letting them play this in the preseason' after play when Lin got fouled (but no foul was called).

Absolutely "bad" shooting form can work in the NBA. In fact, the best shooters I've seen in the NBA are not "textbook" shooters in terms of squaring up to the rim, planting both feet, shooting the ball from the centerline, and extending with a full follow through.

In the NBA, individuality is key to making jump shots. A guy like Larry Bird would splay his elbows out wide with a soccer throw release. Reggie Miller would cross his arms into an X off the follow through. Michael Jordan started out with a squared up jump shot but abandoned it over the years for a side shooting soccer throw jump shot. Magic Johnson essentially shot an old school set shot, only with one hand instead of two.

Lin's girly shot works great for the girls, but it's not working for Lin. From what I'm seeing, his legs are squared but his torso is corkscrewed. In an unguarded practice drill situation, Lin can make tons of these shots because he's able to plant his feet and go up straight while making arm adjustments in the air to compensate for the unnatural squared stance.

Here's the problem. In the NBA, defenders are disrupting Lin's footwork. Thus Lin isn't able to go straight up. So when Lin elevates for his jumper and tries to corkscrew the ball to his forehead, it misses badly because Lin can't make the arm adjustments unless he's going straight up.

I'm no shooting coach and my advice could be 100% wrong. But if I were Lin's shooting coach, I'd have him bring that ball back to the side of his forehead and turn his footwork so that his right foot is ahead of his left. Essentially I'd be recommending that he shoot the same way John Stockton did with that side soccer throw motion.

The other thing about Lin that I'd recommend is that he be able to shoot that side jump shot off either foot. Great NBA side soccer throwing shooters like Stockton are able to make jump shots even with their balance completely disrupted.

Lin absolutely has the coordination and athleticism and drive to become a GREAT shooter in the NBA. The best shooting coach he ever had was Gie-Ming Lin, his father! That's because Gie-Ming Lin studied all those old videos of Bird and Jordan and Stockton and taught their jump shot form to Jeremy!

JLin takes responsibility, but also realises that this is the pre-season. He will be quite a bit harder on himself if it were a regulatr season game.

That is the correct mindset for these pre-season games. They are played in order for teams to work things out. They don't mean much besides there, unless you are a player fighting to be on the team or to get minutes.

I agree that this game is really bad for his general credibility with casual fans and media (and even some front offices!) After all, they only look at the major stat categories: Points, assists, rebounds.

These stats don't say everything about a player's impact on the game. Out of the starters, he had the highest +/- rating. That means the team wasn't losing entirely because he was on the floor.

I would say team performance is more important than media/fan credibility. If the team does well, people won't give so much weight to a poor performance here or there.

I doubt one bad game suggests that a different shooting coach is necessary (because it's just one game). No matter how great a shooter you may be, you will have absolutely terrible games. Moreover, good technique DOES increase shooting percentage. You are working at a disadvantage when you have poor form. You may have managed to create a good shot with less than perfect form... but good technique makes it easier to shoot well.

Its preseason . Kyrie Irving was 2-11 the other night . The difference in preseason is you don't have a chance to even it out . He could have hit his next five shots . Its also holds true if he was 10/11 shooting . Preseason you dont get that chance t equal it out you are running set plays to see how the team works .

There's actually no need for Jeremy Lin to find a "new" shooting coach.

Coach Kevin McHale was one of the greatest NBA jumpshooters in history. Gie Ming Lin, Jeremy's dad, taught Jeremy how to shoot by watching McHale and other great shooters! Now Jeremy has THE SOURCE as his NBA coach!

I'll bet that if McHale pulled Jeremy Lin aside for two hours and worked with him on shooting, Lin would revert to being the GREAT shooter that lit up the NBA in his first year and through the Linsanity days!

Lin managed to score effectively in his few minutes in his rookie season. And during Linsanity, he shot like 57% from the field.

My definition of a "good" NBA shooter is likely different from yours. To me, a "good" NBA shooter is a guy who can consistently make jump shots under pressure and at critical junctures of games. Jeremy Lin has ALWAYS been able to do that, dating back to grade school.

I am different from you because I expect "good shooters" in the NBA to miss LOTS of shots. Everybody, whether it be Larry Bird or Michael Jordan, has nights where NOTHING goes in. "Good" shooters compensate by getting to the rim and to the free throw line, though the referees are going to make that more difficult for Jeremy Lin than they are for any other player in the entire NBA.